Account-register.



m. 853,651. z PATENTED MAY 14, 1907.

' A. STAPLES & aw. POTTER.

ACCOUNT REGISTER.

J .APPLIOATION FILED IEB. 26, 1906.

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' PATENTED MAY 14, 1907.

A, RSTAPLES & G. W. POTTER.- ACCOUNT REGISTER.

APILIOATION I'ILBD FEB. 26. 906.

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5 255,a i m m UNETED PATENT fif hftjl li ALBERT r. STAPLES, or BROCKTON,AND CHARLES w. rorrn or WAL- THAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO THEMOCASKEY REGISTER CQMPANY, OF ALLIANCE, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

sooounr-nsossrss.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14,1907.

Application filed February 26, 1906. Serial No. 302,879.

To all whom it nutymmccrn:

Be it known. that we, ALBERT F. STAPLES and CHARLES W. POTTER, citizensof the United States, residing at Broekton and Waltham, respectively, inthe counties of Plymouth and Middlesex, respectively, and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAccountltegis tors; and. We do hereby declare the f ollow ing to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to improvements in account registers.

The object of the invention is to produce an improved account registerfor use inconnection with the system of accounting in which bills orcharge slips containing the several accounts to be kept are filed incompartments of a bill file or register, and the invention consists in abill file or account register, of the form in which the bills aresecured to a number of pivotally mounted frames, embodying certainimprovements in construction and operation hereinafter pointed 'out inconnection with the description of the illustrated embodiment of theinvention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the inventiompartly insection and Fig. 3 isa similar view on a smaller scale showing theposition of the parts when the register is in use. Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section with .35 the frames removed, and thefront cover drawndown. Fig. 4 is a perspective detail view of the devices for connectingthe frames .with a lll'OlJlUIPOOIIhI'OlllDQI mechanism. Figs. 5 andv 6are detail views of the electric contact device.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a number of framesprovided with clips for holding bills, a casing in which the frames are'mountedand are inclosed when not in use, and mechanism within thecasing for controlling the motion of the frames when they are open orshut. to facilitatc the, use of the device and to prevent jar in openingand closing the frames.

.flhe frames 1 are constructed of metal and provided with marginalflanges 2 to secure the necessary stiffness. They may also be j providedwith flanges 3 as shown in Fig. 4 to divide them into separatecompartments for The the bills and to further stiffen them. frames areprovided. with clips 4 of ordinary form for holding the bills onopposite sides of the frames. The frames are not hinged or pivoted to asupporting member, as is usual in devices of this character, but arefastened together by hinges 5 at the bottom, the hinges being located atthe junctures be tween the bottom flanges of the frames, and the framesare all of the same size. The frames are thus hinged together in seriesand owing to this construction when folded together i'nake a body ofcompact form as shown in Fig. 1, the fram being all parallel and noneofthem extending beyond. the others. In this form, the frames mayconveniently removed from their casing as is sometimes desirable inorder to put them with the bills contained tl'ierein in a safe or' vaultwhen not in use. 1 Since the frames are lunged together in .the mannerabove described, a single support for the bottom of the body of framessufficient, it being unnecessary to support each frame separately in thecasing. fore is provided with pivotal supports in the casing while theremainder of the frames, being supported at the bottom by the frontframe, are left freeat the bottom. and are ,inerely supported at the topto maintain them'norma'lly in upright position. When one or more of theframes is drawn forward and down to permit access to the bills, theframes drawn down assume the position The first or front framethereshown. in Fig. 2, remaining still paralleh' while the remainingframes are raised and the bottoms drawn forward.

ln order that the tops of the frames remaining upright may be movedforward, when some of the frames are drawn down, to the same extentasthe bottom of the upright framos,means are provided to move the topsof the frames forward as the bottoms are moved forward and raised sothat the-u right frames are brought to a position para] el to theiroriginal position and the foremost upright frame is always at the sameangle with the eye of the person using the device. To this end, the lastframe is provided with rollers'50 ionrnaled -to the upper. corners ofthe frame on a rod 6 fixed to the top of the frame, These rollers engagemetal strips'7 may be made upon the bills and also as a provided with aspringcatch 17 which eno3 having screw threaded shanks 24 entering 'thehorizrn'ital, the tops of the frames are fixed to the lower side of acover 8 forming part of the casing; The cover 8 is hinged at .l to theback it) of the casing, and when the i register is in use the cover 8 isswung upward i to the position of Fig. 2, being retained in thisposition by metal links 11 pivoted at their upper ends to the cover 8and. having slotted portions engaging screws 12 in the sides 12% of thecasing. As the frames are turned down the remaining upright frames,owing to the hinged arrangement of the frames are always raised anddrawn forward through substantially the same distances, whatever may bethe number of frames turned down, and.thus by arranging the cover 8 atan angle of substantially 45 with moved forward by the rollers 50through the same distance. it should be noted that by this constructionnot only are the upright frames kept always substantially at the sameangle but also they are brought forward, no matter how many frames areturned down,- so that the front frame of those remaining uprightoccupies always substantially the same position at the front ofthecabinet and this facilitates the use of the register since it obviatesthe necessity of reaching into the casing as in previous accountregisters. i

The front cover 14 of the casing is hinged at 15 to the front of thecasing so that it may be swung down into the position shown in Fig. 2,in which it is retained by chains 16 fixed to the cover of the casing.In this position it serves as a desk upon which entries support for theframes which have been turned down. The index of the accounts is alsomounted upon the inner surface of this cover so that when the cover isturned i down the index is presented to view and when the cover isclosed the index is concealed within the casing. The cover 14; is

a catch 18 on the cover 8 when the covers are both closed and serves tohold the covers closed. By means of a button 19 the catch can bereleased to open the covers.

Within the lower part of the casing mech anism is provided forcontrolling the motion of the flill'l'lOS so as to facilitate turningthem down and also to prevent them from jarring when quickly opened orclosed. A rock shaft 20 is journaled transversely of the casing, and isprovided with depending arms 21. to which springs '22 are attached. Thesprings are adjustable being secured to eyes nuts in the back of thecasing. The shaft 20 carries an arm 26 to the lower end of which ispivoteda link 27 having across pin 28 at its upper end. The cross pm 28engages notched lugs 25) fixed to the bottom of the last frame and heldin engagement with the lugs by a hook 3U pivoted to one of the i ribs 3of the frame as shown particnlm'ly in Fig. l. The springs 2. {endconstantly to swing the arms upward whereby the eight of the frames ispartly counter-lmlanced by the springs and less effort is required todraw the frames forward and down :n'd; As more and more of the framesare drawn forward, or as the frames in abody are drawn further andfurther forward, the arm ac swings farther upward and the springs 22 incontracting diminish their tension, so that by properly proportioningthe springs and the incchanisn'i connecting them with the frames, thecounter-ha]ancing effect of the spring. is made to diminishsubstantially in proportion as the necessity for the counterbalancingdecreases as the frames are turned downward.

To prevent jarring when the frames are tipped back into the easing {liearm 26 is onnccted with a piston rod 31 carrying a. piston 32 whichHIOVOS in a cylinder .lf-l journaled in brackets 34 in the casing. Thepiston is provided with a cup leather 5-15 \\'lll( h allows air to passfreely as the piston moves Iowa rd the open rear end of the cylinder butprevents air from escaping as the piston is moved in the oppositedirection. An adjusting screw 36 with a slotted shank provides anadinstable leak to permit the air to csca pc slowly from the cylinder.Owing to the relative position of the cylinder and the arm 26 the pistonmoves from right to left during the first part of the movement of theframes and opposes no resistance to the movement of the frames, butafter the arm 26 is swung beyond the position in which it is in linewith the pivotal supports of the cylinder 33 the direction of motion ofthe piston is reversed and it then acts as a check upon the movement ofthe arm 26 and of the frai'ncs so that by the cushioning effect of theair the frames are preventcd from falling heavily upon. the cover 14. Asimilar result is sernrcd in returning the frames to the casing, thepiston first moving from right to left and then moving in the oppositedirection and preventing the frames from striking heavily against theback of the casing. As a further precaution against iarring rubberbuffers 51 are fixed in 4110 back of the casing in position to; engagethe'flangcs on the edges of the back frame, and rubber buffers orabutmcnts 38 are fixed to car-h of the frames so that they do not jaragainst each other. I

In order to provide an alarm to indicate the fact that the accountregister has been opened an electric contact device is mounted withinthe case. This contact device coinprises a flat metal spring SRpivotallymounted at its rear end in a reccssin the side of the casing and tendingnormally to engage a contact piece 39 on the asing. The forward end ofthe spring 58 is provided with a beveled lugao adapted to engage a lugall on the edge of the front frame. /Vhile the front frame is closed thespring held inward away from the contact piece 31-) and the electriccircuit is open. When the front frame is opened the spring 58 closes theelectric circuit. An electric battery 42 locateril within the casing andconnected in a circuit with the contact making; device, as shown in.Fig. 3, thereupon causes a bell located in any convenient position toring, the bell being connected with wires 43, Fig. 3, which pass outthrough the back of the casing. By this arrangement an alarm is given incase of any unauthorized tampering with the register. To prevent thebell ringing continuously while the register is in use the spring 58 maybe swung upward out of contact with the contact piece 39 after the firstframe has been opened.

As it is desirable to have the frai'nes readily removable from thecasing so that they may be put into a vault or safe when not in use, thepivotal supports for the front frame are made in the form of bearingblocks 44 fixed to the sides of the casing and having deprecsions intheir upper sides loosely engaged by pins 45 projecting from the lowercorners of the front frame;- VVhen it desired to remove the frames fromthe casing they are drawn down upon the cover 14 and disengagcd from thelink 27 by disengaging the hook 3O from the pin 28. then be lifted freefrom the blocks 44 and removed front the casing.

vided with a lug 46 adapted to engage a pin 47-lixed to the arm 26, anda spring 48 mounted on the arm 26 engages the link-27 and tendsto swingit downwardly until the lug engages the pin. The piiiis so adjusted thatwhen the frames have been removed as above described the link 27 is heldby the pin'and the spring 48 in the correct position to be engaged againby the devices by which it is con-- ncctcd with the frame, so that ininserting the frames again. it is necessary merely to in sort-tho pins45 in the notched blocks 44 and then press down the hook 30 to securethe pin 28 inthe lugs-2!).

The hinged arrangement of the frames and their normally parallelposition have several important advantages. By this arrangement themaximum capacity provided in a inininuun hulk, a feature which isespecially important when the framcsareto be stored in a safe. Anotheradvantage resulting from this consl ruction the fact that when severalframes are drawn down there is no relative motion between the frames,and the bills held between them are therefore subjected to no danger ofinjury such as might occur in other forms of account registers when theluantilfv of hills contained between the framesv is suliiricnt lo ca sethe hills on the adjacent surfaces of the frames to be in contact. itshould b; no-lcd that owing to tho hinged arrangement ol the lramcs theweight The frames may is claimed is:

1. An account register, having, n combiof the frames remaining vertical,so far as it isnot conntcr balanced by the col'inter-balancing devicesabove described, has a tendency to can so the return of each horizontalframe to upright position, as soon as the frame is swung upwardslightlyabove horizontal position, s0,that the raising of the frames isfacilitatedto the same extent as if each frame were provided withsprings to raise it, as in previous account 'registersfi Thisconstructionis much simpler than the previous construction since thiseffect results from the weight of the frames alone and no springs arenecessary for this purpose.

Any convenient number of frames may be used, and the use ofcount'er-balancing and checking mechanism. for the frames, or othermotion controllingdevices, is not essential to the invention in itsbroader aspects, although such devices contribute to the utility of theinvention.

The invention is not, in general, limited to the details of constructionand operation of the illustrated eml'iodiment, but may he em-' bodiedinother forms broadly defined in the claims.

l-lavmg new described the invention, what nation, a plurality ofpivotally mounted. frames, means for supporting the frames norm ally inupright position and means acting,

The link 27 is promove the remaining frames forward to a positionsubstantially in the plane norm ally 00- cup'i ed by the first frame,substantially as d'e-f when one or more frames are drawn down, to

scribed.

3. An account-register, havmg, 1n combination, a plurality of frameshinged together at the bottom, meansfor holding/the frames, normally inupright position, and means acting, when one or more of the frames aredrawn down, to move the tops of the rem a1ning fraines forwardsubstantially the same distance that the bottoms are movedforward,substantially as described. I

3. An account register, baving, combination, a ph'rahty offlBJDGS'PlVOCflllY connected together at the bottom, means forsupporting the frames norm ally in upright position, and inclined guidesco-operating with the last frame so as to cause the top of said. frameto he moved forward [as it is raised, suhstantially'as descrihi-zd. l

4. An account register, having, in combination, a plurality of frameshinged. togetherat the bottom and provided with abutments holding theframes normally in substantially parallel position, pivotal supports forthe first frame, means for holding the frames normally in uprightposition, and means for moving l he tops of the frames forward as thebottoms are moved forward in turning down the frames, substantially asdescribed.

5. in account register, having, in. comb i-.

- of the frames or partially counter-balancing theirweight,substantially as described.

6. An account register, having, "in combi nation, a plurality of frameshinged together at the bottom, means for normally isuprmrting the framesin upi'igbtposition, pivotal supports for the first frame, and acounterbalancing device connecting with the last frame and subjectingthe frames to a counter-balancing force diminishing substantiallyinproportion to the number of frames turned down, substantially asdescribed.

7. An account register having, in combination, a plurality of "pivotallymounted frames, and a casing, in which the frames are normally supportedin upright position, provided With a cover pivoted at the rear andhaving means for limiting its upward motion so as to act as a guide forthe tops of the frames by engagement with. the last frame when. one ormore of the frames are turned down, substantially as described 8. {inaccount register having, in combination, a plurality of frames hingedtogether, a casing provided with loose pivotal supports for the frontframe arranged to permit the frames'to be readily inserted therein andremoved therefrom, and a motion-control]ing device located in the casingand detachably connected with the frames, substantiall as described.

9. An account register having, in combination, a plurality of frameshinged together .in series, a support for the frames, and a singlecounter-balancing means for the frames connected with one of theterminal frames, substantially as described.

10. .An account register having, in combination, a plurality of frameshinged together in'series, a pivotal support for one terminal frame, andcounter-balancing means connected with the other terminal frame at itshinged edge, substantially as described.

11. An account register having, in combination, a plurality of frameshinged together one of said frames being pivotally mounted in saidpivotal supports and supporting the other 'frai'nes, all of the frameswhen uprightbe'ing" inclined to loan by gravity toward the back of thecase.

l3. An account register includiin a case having a back, a pair of pivot:1 supports in the case, a plurality of bill-holding frames hinged toeach other, the foremost one of said frames being pivotally mounted insaid pivotal supports and supporting the other frames, all of the frameswhen upright being inclined to lean by gravity toward the back of thecase, and compensating paralleling apparatus in the case acting, whenone or more of the frames are drawn dovrn, to assist. in moving theremaining frames forward to positions approximately parallel to theplane normally occupied by the forei'i'iost frame.

14. ln account registers, the coml'iination with a cabinet case, and aplurality of billholding frames hinged one to another and collectivelyforming a connected portable grmip of frames, of a pair of pivotalsupports mounted in the case and pivotally supporting theforward part ofthe forward one of the frames and thereby supporting the group offrames, the frames being movable se 'iaratel in succession to eitherupright or reclining positions, and means in the case to be en,- gag'edby the rearmost frame for holding it upright when bodily elevated and aforward frame reclines.

In testimony whereof We allix our signatures, in presence of twoivitncsses.

ALBERT F. STAPLES. CHARLES W. POlTTlC' R. Witnesses:

Fannnn F. Donsnr, ALFRED ll. llnpunrn.

